Wagner: Die Walküre
Anita Välkki/Hans Hotter/Jon Vickers/Rita Gorr/Claire Watson
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden/Georg Solti
Live performance October 2, 1961
Testament SBT4 (4 CDs)(225:03)
Sir Georg Solti was the conductor for the first-ever complete recording of Wagner’s Ring cycle. It was an historic event and Decca Records and producer John Culshaw deserve enormous credit for undertaking the enormous risk involved. Against all odds – EMI producer Walter Legge thought it would be a disaster – the cycle was spectacularly successful. With most of the leading Wagner singers of the day taking part the performance was glorious, and John Culshaw and his team of engineers created a sound world that was far ahead of its time.
The Decca Ring was made in installments between 1958 and 1965. During that period Solti was music director of the Frankfurt Opera and from 1961 of Covent Garden. The Decca recordings certainly made Solti’s international reputation as a Wagner conductor, but this previously unreleased recording shows that he was equally electrifying in the opera house. This is a great performance. Nor is it all about intensity and volume as Solti’s detractors often claimed about the Hungarian conductor’s performances. There is some wonderful soft and expressive playing in this performance too.
The cast is first-rate and somewhat different from that put together in 1965 for the Decca recording. Hans Hotter is common to both and in the live performance he demonstrates why he was the ranking Wotan of the period. Act Two has way too much boring recitative for my taste but Hotter makes every word of the text clear and meaningful. Anita Välkki as Brünnhilde sings consistently in tune and is thrilling in her big moments.
Jon Vickers was to go on to take the role of Siegmund in several recordings, most notably, with Karajan. Significantly, he does not appear in Solti’s Decca recording. During rehearsals for this 1961 performance at Covent Garden Vickers and Solti were at odds over how to interpret the role. Things got so heated that Vickers vowed never to sing with Solti again and he never did.
Nonetheless, Vickers is magnificent in this performance. As always with Vickers in his prime, he gave the impression of a tortured man who could explode in rage at any moment. This simmering below the surface was a compelling quality in his singing and acting. In fact, he had more power than any other Wagner tenor of his generation but he could also float a beautiful line whenever it was required. Vickers fans will want to rush out and buy this recording. It is an important documentation of his artistry.
One could hardly claim that the Royal Opera House Orchestra is the equal of the Vienna Philharmonic on the Decca recording of Die Walküre. But the British orchestra plays with extraordinary fire and accuracy.
Testament | Wagner: Die Walküre with Georg Solti is available at Presto Classical.
Paul E. Robinson
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Paul Robinson is the author of Herbert von Karajan: the Maestro as Superstar, and Sir Georg Solti: His Life and Music. For friends: The Art of the Conductor podcast, “Classical Airs.”
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